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EULOGIUM 



THE CHARACTER AND SERVICES 



OF THE LATE 



JOHN SERGEANT, 



PRONOrXCED AT THE REQUEST OF THE 



IHert ml €mmn C'DitiirilH of tjjB (IDiti{ nf :^:^|jiln&rlpjjia, 



COMMITTEE APPOINTED AT A MEETING OF CITIZENS. 



APRIL 22, 1853, 



BY HON. WILLIAM M. MEREDITH, 



/^ 



U. S. A. 



PHILADELPHIA: 

CRISSY & MARK LEY, PRINTERS, 

GOLDSMITHS HALL, LIBRARY STREET. 

1853. 



I • I- 



.^5 



COMMITTEE ROOM, CITY HAIili, 

May 3d, 1853. 

IIox. AViLLiAM M. Meredith. 

Dear Sir : — I have the houor to commiinicate to yoii herewitli, a copy of 
a resolution of the committee appointed to devise proper tributes of respect 
for the memory of tlie late Hon. John Sergeant, and beg leave to express the 
hope that you will be pleased to accede to their request therein, and thus 
furnish them -with the means of perpetuating an eloquent and appropriate 
testimony to the life and character of that great and good man. 
With great respect, 

Your obedient servant, 

CHARLES A. TOULSON, 

Chairman Joint Special Commillee. 

In Commiitce, May 2, 1853. 

Resolved, That the Chairman be requested to express to Mr. Meredith the 

thanks of the Joint Committee, for his Eulogy on the late John Sergeant, 

delivered at its request at the Musical Fund Hall, on the evening of the 

2'2d of April last, and to ask from him a copy for publication. 

CRAIG BIDDLE, 

Secretary. 



Pliiladelpliia, May llth, 1853. 

My Dear Sir : — I have to acknowledge the receipt of your note, enclosing 
a Resolution of the Committee, asking for publication, a copy of the Eulo- 
gium on Mr. Sergeant. It gives me great pleasure to comply -witli the 
request of the Committee, and to assure you how sincerely. 
I am, with the highest esteem. 

Your friend and servant, 

WILLIAM M. MEREDITH. 
To Charles A. Poui.sox, Esq. 

Chairman, ^r. 



EULOGIUM. 



We are assembled this evening, to pay a deserved 
tribute to the memory of a virtuous man. No custom 
is more laudable than that which benefits the livino^ 
by setting forth the example of the illustrious dead. 
It is a custom, on the due observance of which, de- 
pends much of our future public welfare. 

To neglect the memory of virtue is to discourage 
virtue. To lavish prostituted panegyric on profligacy, 
selfishness and treachery, would be to encourage vice. 
Our present purpose, is to call to remembrance the 
career of a man, who in all his relations, public, pro- 
fessional and personal, deserved well of his fellow- 
citizens ; who devoted great intellectual ability, great 
power of eloquence, and great moral worth, during a 
long life, to the service of his country; and who had 



6 



his reward in the esteem of his enemies, the love of 
his friends, and the confidence of all. 

John Sergeant was born in the City of Philadel- 
phia, in the year 1779. He was the son of Jonathan 
Dickinson Sergeant, the first Attorney General of the 
State of Pennsylvania. His father died of yellow 
fever, in October 1793, having taken that disease in 
the discharge of a duty voluntarily assumed by him, 
as one of the committee of citizens, who, during that 
period of pestilence and calamity, bestowed their 
labors, and in some cases sacrificed their lives, in the 
active charity which the emergency required, from 
the few who had the courage to bestow it. John 
Sergeant was educated in the schools of the Univer- 
sity of Pennsylvania, till the spring of 1794, when he 
went to Princeton College, where he graduated in 
September 1795. 

After leaving college, he entered the compting-house 
of Messrs. Ellison and John Perot, with the inten- 
tion of qualifying himself to become a merchant. 

Having changed that intention, in March 1797, he 
entered the ofiice of the late Jared Ingersoll, and 
commenced the regular study of the law. 

In July, 1799, he was admitted to practice in the 
Common Pleas of Philadelphia County. At that 
time — before the age of twenty — his active life com- 
menced. 



His advance in the profession was rapid. In 1800, 
soon after the first election of Governor McKean, he 
was appointed to prosecute for the Commonwealth in 
Chester County, and during that and several subse- 
quent years, he prosecuted also in Philadelphia 
County, and occasionally in the Mayor's Court of 
the City of Philadelphia. 

In 1802 he was appointed by Mr. Jefferson a Com- 
missioner of Bankrupts. 

The first occasion which afforded an opportunity 
for bringing into notice his remarkable ability, was 
the argument of a case in the year 1806, before 
the Supreme Court of this State, involving a highly 
important, and at that time with us, a novel question 
of law. His argument as junior counsel in that cause, 
drew from the Bench a well deserved and unusual 
compliment, and from that period his professional 
advancement became accelerated. He soon took his 
station among the foremost, and before long, in the 
very first rank of the Bar, where he maintained his 
position, during the greater part of half a century. 
Without naming his contemporaries of his own age, — 
some of whom are yet living, and with whom the 
ability of competition was of itself an honor — an idea 
may be formed of the professional stature of that day, 
from the names of some of his seniors, who occupied 
the most prominent places at the Philadelphia Bar — 



8 

then as always, the first in the United States. — 
William Lewis, Jared Ingersoll, Edward Tilgh- 
MAN, William Rawle, Alexander J. Dallas, and 
Alexander Wilcocks were then in the full maturity 
of life, and of professional vigour. It was among 
these that he was to win his way, and he suc- 
ceeded. 

Mr. Sergeant's professional career, honorable and 
laborious, was faithfully, diligently and successfully 
pursued, almost to the close of his life. It would not 
be appropriate here to dwell upon its details. 

As a counsellor, he was cautious, deliberate and 
safe. As an advocate, he was equally effective in 
addressing a jury, and in arguing a question of law 
before the court. His wonderful faculty of illustra- 
tion, the clearness and soundness of his logic, together 
with his earnest and unaffected zeal, rendered him 
powerful under all circumstances. 

He was scrupulously fair in his practice, and while 
he took no undue advantage of his adversary, on the 
other hand, he discarded no fact or principle, however 
apparently trifling, which could be legitimately used 
for the benefit of his client. 

His integrity in this, as in every other pursuit of 
life in which he engaged, w^as always perfect. It is 
not wonderful that such qualities commanded, as they 
deserved, success. 



His course as a public servant was equally dis- 
tinguished. 

In the year 1805, he was elected a member of the 
House of Representatives of Pennsylvania, for the 
City of Philadelphia — the first of a long series of 
tokens of the confidence and regard of his fellow citi- 
zens. In 1S06, the office of "Recorder of the City of 
Philadelphia," was tendered to him by Governor 
McKean, which he declined. That office had been 
successively held by Mr. Wilcocks and Mr. Dallas, 
immediately before the offer which has been referred to. 
Having declined a re-election in 1806, Mr. Sergeant 
was in 1807 again elected to the Legislature. During 
the session of 1807-8, he was chairman of the Com- 
mittee on " Roads and inland navigation," and in that 
capacity, reported the first act giving the direct aid 
of the State to internal improvements, a cause which 
he had always deeply at heart, and to which he never 
refused his assistance. The amount appropriated 
was nearly $200,000, and it was applied to the con- 
struction of turnpike roads. 

To us at present, the sum and, the purpose may 
appear insignificant, but it was the beginning of that 
system, which has since led to such vast results, 
both of expenditure and utility. The State at that 
time numbered scarcely more than one-fourth of its 
present population. In wealth the disproportion was 



10 

still greater. No canals had yet been completed. 
The Delaware and Schuylkill, and the Schuylkill and 
Susquehanna Canal Companies, (afterwards merged in 
the Union Canal Company) had been projected, and 
the projectors had sunk a large part of their for- 
tunes, in some feeble efforts towards their construc- 
tion. No turnpike road existed beyond Lancaster. 
The Western Country — the Far West — commenced 
at the western slope of the Alleghanies. Merchan- 
dise, and even salt for supplying the necessities of the 
few inhabitants beyond them, were transported on 
pack-horses. At that time the aid thus afforded to 
the construction of turnpike roads, trifling as it may 
now appear, was highly important. 

At the same session Mr. Sergeant introduced a 
bill, which was passed, prohibiting masquerades, 
which he considered dangerous to public morals, of 
the care of which he never lost sight. 

In 1815 he was elected to Congress, by the district 
composed of the City and County of Philadelphia, and 
County of Delaware. He was elected from the same 
district to the three following Congresses; the last 
time, in 1820, without opposition; and at the end of 
that term, he declined a re-election, and devoted him- 
self again exclusively to his private avocations. 

Mr. Sergeant took his seat in Congress, at an 
interesting period. It was the first session after the 



11 

close of the war of 1812, — a fortunate war closed by 
a disgraceful peace, — a war which had not touched 
the strength or enfeebled the spirit of the country, but 
had much damnified its finances. 

With the exception of a small eastern portion, the 
whole country was reduced to the use of paper cur- 
rency ; and of all the various currencies in use, in^ 
most of the States, that of the Government of the 
United States, was the most depreciated. The war 
had almost entirely cut oflf the revenue from customs, 
and the direct taxation, which had become necessary, 
was not only severely felt, but was comparatively un- 
productive. 

The want of convenient roads, and other means of 
communication, had been sorely experienced during the 
contest, and had not only greatly embarrased our 
military operations at critical periods, but had enor- 
mously enhanced the expenses. In fact, a large por- 
tion of the expense of the war, had been occasioned 
by. the cost of transportation. It was calculated that 
every barrel of flour delivered at Detroit, for the use 
of the army, had cost in its conveyance, not less than 
$60 ; and every pound of cannon ball and ammunition, 
at least 50 cents. Under these circumstances, it was 
natural, that the three leading topics of the day, should 
have been " the increase of the revenue," the " restora- 
tion of the currency," and " the improvement of the 



12 

internal communications of the country ;" all, subjects 
of sreat interest in themselves, — and of an interest 
heightened by the peculiar circumstances with which 
they were surrounded, and by the constitutional ques- 
tions which were raised upon each of them. Notwith- 
standing the revival of foreign trade after the peace, 
and the system of double duties, (which were to cease 
in February, 1816,) the actual income of the year 
1815, was less than sixteen millions of dollars; while 
the necessary expenditures of that year, including the 
arrearages of the last, were estimated at not less than 
fifty millions. 

The bank notes of New York were at 14 per cent 
discount for specie, those of Philadelphia and Balti- 
more, at 16 per cent., and still further south, the dis- 
count was greater. The duty of arranging a new 
system of finance, suited to the emergency, devolved 
upon the Secretary of the Treasury, Alexander J. 
Dallas, and was fulfilled by him, in a manner consis- 
tent with his tried ability and known patriotism. 

lie proposed to reduce the direct tax one-half, to 
repeal the most odious of the internal taxes, — especi- 
ally those on domestic manufactures, — ai;id to augment 
the tariff of duties on imports. 

The tariff recommended by him, amounted on 
an average, to an increase of 42 per cent, above the 
rates preceding the war; and was arranged with 



13 

particular reference to the encouragement of domestic 
manufactures. Those manufactures had been to a 
great extent, called into existence, by the war; which 
had prevented importations, and thrown our people 
for the time, upon their owi\ resources of industry and 
enterprise, for necessary supplies. The policy of 
encouraging them, had been warmly urged in the 
President's message. 

Mr. Madison, in that paper, used the following lan- 
guage : — " However wise the theory may be which 
leaves to the sagacity and interest of individuals, the 
application of their industry and resources, there are 
in this — as in other cases, exceptions to the general 
rule. 

Besides the condition which the theory itself implies, 
of a reciprocal adoption by other nations, experience 
teaches, that so many circumstances must concur, in 
introducing and maturing manufacturing establish- 
ments, especially of the more complicated kinds, that 
a country may remain long without them, although 
sufficiently advanced, and in some respects, even 
peculiarly fitted for carrying them on with success. 

Under circumstances giving a powerful impulse to 
manufacturing industry, it has made among us a pro- 
gress, and exhibited an efficiency which justifies the 
belief, that, with a protection, not more than is due to 
the enterprising citizens, whose interests are now at 



14 

stake, it will become, at an early day, not only safe 
against occasional competitions from abroad, but a 
source of domestic wealth, and even of external com- 
merce. In selectinor the branches more or less enti- 
tied to public patronage^ a preference is obviously 
claimed by such as will relieve the United States 
from a dependence on foreign supplies — ever subject 
to casual failures — for articles necessary for the pub- 
lic defence, or connected with the primary wants of 
individuals. It will be an additional recommendation 
of particular manufactures, when the materials for 
them are extensively drawn from our agriculture and 
consequently impart and insure to that great fund of 
national prosperity, an independence and encourage- 
ment, which cannot fail to be rewarded." 

Mr. Dallas recommended a permanent revenue, to 
be raised partly by internal taxes, but chiefly from 
duties on imports, to supply sixteen millions for cur- 
rent expenses, and ten millions annually, toward the 
interest and liquidation of the public debt. By his 
scheme, imported articles were arranged in three 
classes. First, — those of which a full domestic sup- 
ply could be produced. Secondly, — those of which 
only a partial domestic supply could be relied on. 
And thirdly, — those produced, either not at all, or to 
a very trifling extent in this country. The first class 
included among other articles, cabinet wares, cordage. 



15 

iron castings, window glass, leather and all manufac- 
tures of it, and paper of every description. In the 
second class, were placed cotton and woollen goods, 
iron and many of its products, manufactures of other 
rfietals, distilled spirits and malt liquors. 

The third class included molasses, sugar, salt, coal, 
and some other articles. 

I have given some of the details of this classifica- 
tion, and it is interesting to observe, how vastly diflfer- 
ent they would be at the present day. 

The bill establishing the system recommended by 
Mr. Madison, and framed by Mr. Dallas, was reported 
in the House of Representatives by Mr. Lowndes, 
and received the active support of Mr. Calhoun, — 
both, men of eminent ability, practical statesmanship, 
and at that period, most enlarged and national views. 

To this system Mr. Sergeant gave, from the begin- 
ning, his earnest, active and efficient support. It was 
warmly opposed by the commert:ial interest, or rather 
by the interest engaged in foreign commerce, which 
regarded it as a blow aimed at their own well-being, 
not having then, any more than some have now, 
sufficiently enlarged their views, to understand the 
truth (established by all experience and history) that 
no country ever diminished its commerce, by increas- 
ing its productions. During the ensuing thirty years, 
some of those who had most powerfully advocated it, 



16 

fell off; others, who had opposed it, became its zeal- 
ous advocates. Men were found to prank themselves 
highly on their devotion to it, who, in reality, under- 
stood no more than that it was a good political cry ; 
and — probably in the uncontrolable course of events, 
the subject (which ought to have been kept in a higher 
atmosphere,) was finally thrust into the common arena 
of factious politics; the system was, in turn, main- 
tained, destroyed and restored, and became for a time, 
a mere foot-ball of ignorant partizans. But, during 
the whole period, through good report and ill report, 
we may feel a just pride in referring to the fact, that 
Mr. Sergeant continued to be a discreet, active and 
consistent friend and promoter, of a system which he 
believed to be conducive to the welfare and best inter- 
ests of the country. Unfortunately, however, the course 
of Mr. Calhoun was different on this and many other 
topics. A man of the highest public spirit, of com- 
manding intellect, of* great administrative talent, of 
untiring energy, and originally of the most liberal, 
enlarged and national disposition, who lived to see his 
ideas appropriated by cuckoo politicians, to find 
his position undermined by unworthy intrigues, his 
temper soured by ingratitude, and his range gradually 
narrowed, till instead of being a recognized leader 
in the advancement of the general good, he became 
wholly obstructive and sectional. But no disappoint- 



17 

ments could ever make him deceitful or treacherous. 
More than one jackdaw dressed very well afterwards 
in the feathers which he moulted when he changed his 
plumage. Probably history will do him justice — and 
them. 

For the restoration of the currency, and even to 
prevent further depreciation and absolute confusion, 
there were obviously no means except to return to 
specie payments, and as the only mode of accomplish- 
ing that result, Mr. Dallas recommended the estab- 
lishment of a specie paying bank, by the operations of 
which, the suspended banks might be compelled either 
to resume their payments, or to go out of existence. 

The capital which he proposed was thirty-five mil- 
lions, of which only twenty per cent, was to be paid 
in cash, the remainder in United States stock, equiva- 
lent to a six per cent, stock, except that seven mil- 
lions of five per cent, stock were to be subscribed by 
the Government. 

Mr. Sergeant desired to reduce the capital to twenty 
millions, but the proposition made to that efiect was 
not carried, and a bill for establishing the bank, passed 
almost in the shape in which it had been reported, 
having been strenuously supported by Mr. Calhoun. 

The institution thus created, had at first an unfor- 
tunate career, but having been rescued by the timely 
and judicious rigor of Mr. Cheves, enjoyed a long 



18 

course of prosperity under his able and accomplished 
successor, Mr. Biddle, against whose judgment and 
wishes, towards the close of the term of its charter, 
it also was finally set afloat on the uneasy waves of 
party, — drawn into the political vortex, and after 
sundry regurgitations in that whirlpool of troubled 
waters, at last struck, and went to pieces, on the 
adamantine will of General Jackson. 

The third great question which agitated Congress 
at the period of which we have been speaking, was 
that of internal improvements. Mr. Jefferson, pre- 
vious to the commercial difficulties which preceded 
the war, had suggested the application of the sur- 
plus revenue to internal improvements, and Mr. 
Madison, at the session of 1815-16, directed the 
attention of Congress to such roads and canals 
which could best be executed under the national 
authority as objects of a wise and extended pa- 
triotism, intimating, however, some doubt of a want 
of a constitutional authority. At the next session, 
(1816-17,) Mr. Calhoun, by great effort, succeeded 
in carrying a bill, appropriating the bonus of a mil- 
lion and a-half, to be paid by the United States 
Bank, and all dividends upon the Government stock 
in that institution, as a fund for internal improve- 
ments, each State to be entitled to share in the ex- 
penditure proportional to its representation. 



19 

This bill passed the House, by a vote of eighty-six 
to eighty-four, and the Senate, by a vote of twenty to 
fifteen. It received the support of Mr. Sergeant, but 
was vetoed by the President, on the ground of uncon- 
stitutionality. 

It has been noticed as a curious fact, that the only 
positive measure ever recommended during his Presi- 
dency by Mr. Jefferson, the great progenitor of the 
resolutions of '98, turned out to be, in the opinion of 
his immediate friend and successor, no more within 
the legitimate scope of the constitutional power of 
Congress, than were the alien and sedition laws 
themselves. 

Another topic of vast public importance, during 
Mr. Sergeant's early career in Congress, and on which 
he rendered distinguished service was, what has since 
been known as the Missouri question. The decision 
of that question has so seriously affected our subse- 
quent history, and its consequences, past, present and 
future, are so momentous, that it may not be unin- 
structive to recur briefly to its course. 

At the session of 1818-19, a bill was introduced 
for creating the Territory of Missouri, in which Mr. 
Talmadge, of New York, moved to insert a clause 
prohibiting any further introduction of slavery, and 
granting freedom to the children of slaves already in 
the territory, who had not attained the age of twenty- 



20 

five years. After a warm debate, this motion was 
carried by a vote of eighty-seven to seventy-six in the 
House. 

A bill for creating the Territory of Arkansas was 
introduced and next considered, when Mr. Taylor, of 
New York, moved to insert a similar restriction. 
The clause for liberating at twenty-five, the children 
of the slaves already in the territory, was agreed to, 
by a vote of seventy-five to seventy-three ; but the 
clause prohibiting the fiirther introduction of slaves, 
was lost by a vote of seventy to seventy-one. On 
the next day, the 18th of February, 1819, the clause 
which had been agreed to was again stricken out; 
and Mr. Taylor then moved to add to the bill a pro- 
viso, that neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, 
should thereafter be introduced into any part of the 
Territory of the United States, north of 36° 30', 
which was the northern boundary proposed for the 
new Territory of Arkansas. This amendment was 
so warmly opposed, both by northern and southern 
members, that Mr. Taylor at last withdrew it, and 
the Arkansas bill, without any restrictions, was passed 
and sent to the Senate. This motion of Mr. Taylor's 
was the original proposition of that compromise — of 
principle — which was ultimately adopted at the subse- 
quent session. Down to this period, the admissions of 
new States had been alternately slave-holding and non- 



21 

slave-holding. Vermont, Kentucky, Tennessee, Ohio, 
Louisiana, Indiana, Mississipi and Illinois had then 
been admitted. When the Arkansas bill was con- 
sidered in the Senate, Mr. Roberts, of Pennsylvania, 
moved to insert a. prohibition of slavery, which failed 
by a vote of nineteen to fourteen — several northern 
Senators being absent, and one from Indiana voting 
against it. The bill then passed without a division. 

The proviso which the House had inserted in the 
Missouri bill, against the further introduction of 
slaves, was stricken out in the Senate by a vote of 
twenty-two to sixteen. The clause for the freeing of 
the children of slaves, was also cancelled, receivinof 
but seven votes. The House, by a vote of seventy- 
eight to seventy-six, refused to concur in this amend- 
ment, and the Missouri bill, at that session, was lost. 

At the following session, of 1819-20, the subject 
was renewed. On motion of Mr. Taylor, a committee 
was appointed to inquire into the expediency of pro- 
hibiting slavery west of the Mississippi. The bill to 
authorize Missouri to form a State Constitution, was 
postponed to await the report of this committee ; but 
the committee being unable to agree, was afterwards 
discharged. 

Meanwhile, an attempt was'made to defer the con- 
sideration of a bill for the admission of Maine, which 
was now pending, until the Missouri bill should come 



22 

up, but the attempt was defeated, and the Maine bill 
was passed and sent to the Senate. 

In the Senate, a clause for the admission of Mis- 
souri was tacked to the Maine bill, and to that clause 
Mr. Roberts, of Pennsylvania, moved to add a pro- 
hibition of slavery, but after a lengthened debate, his 
motion was lost, by a vote of sixteen to twenty-seven, 
on the 1st of February, 1820; and, after another long 
debate, on the 16th of February, the union of Maine 
•and Missouri in one bill, was carried by a vote of 
twenty-three to twenty-one. Mr. Thomas, of Illinois, 
then moved an amendment, prohibiting the intro- 
duction of slaves into any of the remainder of the 
Louisiana cession, north of the Arkansas boundary — 
that is, north of 36° 30', which was in fact the com- 
promise clause, as afterwards finally adopted. This 
amendment was carried by a vote of thirty-four to 
ten, and thus amended, the bill was passed by a vote 
of twenty-four to twenty. 

Meanwhile, the House was occupied in the con- 
sideration of a bill for the admission of Missouri, on 
the question of prohibiting the further introduction of 
slaves. 

When the Maine bill was returned from the Senate, 
with the unrestricted admission of Missouri and Mr. 
Thomas's compromise, the amendments thus made by 
the Senate, were disagreed to ; the vote against the 



23 

clause moved by Mr. Thomas, being one hundred and 
fifty-nine to eighteen. Committees of conference 
were then appointed. 

Pending this conference, the Missouri Bill was re- 
ported to the House, with a clause prohibiting the 
further introduction of slaves, and was so passed, by a 
vote of ninety-three to eighty-four. 

On the second of March, the Senate sent back this 
Missouri Bill, with the prohibition of slavery struck 
out, and Thomas's proviso inserted instead; at the 
same time, the Committee of conference reported a 
recommendation to the Senate, to recede from their 
amendments to the Maine Bill, and asked the house 
to pass the Missouri Bill, as it had been last returned 
from the Senate ; and finally the clause prohibiting 
slavery, was voted out of the Missouri Bill, by one 
hundred and thirty-four to forty-two. 

During these discussions, on the ninth of February, 
1820 ; the question then being on the amendment, pro- 
posed by Mr. Taylor, Mr. Sergeant delivered one of 
the best reasoned, and most able speeches, that has ever 
been heard in the Hall of either House of Contjress. 
It has almost exhausted the argument in favor of the 
prohibition of slavery in new states and territories, and 
it was no small token of the respect and esteem which 
was then entertained for him, (although comparatively 
but a young member and a young man) that he was 



24 

selected and pitted as the champion of the North, 
against the best abilities of the able and experienced 
members, who maintained the opposite doctrines. 
That speech remains, and is still a store-house from 
which materials are habitually drawn for the dis- 
cussion and exposition of the subject. Thus Mr. 
Thomas and Mr. Taylor, between them, had the honor 
of originating this compromise ; Mr. Sergeant, the 
greater honor of opposing it. It was a measure so 
indefensible in itself, so fraught with injury to the 
whole country, so politically unjust to a large por- 
tion of it, and has been so fruitful of subsequent 
similar derelictions — so periodically prolific of an 
accursed brood— that the friends and townsmen of 
Mr. Sergeant may feel a just pride in the recollection 
of his determined hostility to it. 

Mr. Sergeant's efforts, were also directed to pro- 
mote the establishment of a bankrupt law, for the 
relief of the commercial classes, a subject which he 
had deeply at heart, and to whidi his exertions were 
devoted, both then and at a later period. 

This brief recital will show, by what legitimate 
means, by what faithful discharge of his duties, by 
what conscientious adherence to his principles, Mr. 
Sergeant earned that distinction, in his early career 
in Congress, which gave him from that period, a 
national reputation. The just influence which he 



25 

ultimately acquired in that body, may be illustrated 
by the fact, that, on one occasion, when a bill for 
establishing a Lottery had been introduced, he, by 
a few words, not only defeated the bill itself, but 
so effectually awakened the feelings of the House, 
that they ordered a Committee to bring in a bill to 
prohibit altogether the sale of Lottery Tickets in the 
District of Columbia. 

Active as he was on the higher and more general 
questions which were presented, he never neglected 
those which were locally important to his constitu- 
ents. The Bill for constructing the Break-water ; the 
Bill for the erection of a new Mint ; the Chesapeake 
and Delaware Canal Bill ; afford a few of many in- 
stances, which prove how true and faithful, was his 
regard to the interests of the District which he repre- 
sented. 

In 1826, Mr. Sergeant was appointed by the Presi- 
dent, (Mr. Adams) Minister from the United States, 
to what was commonly called, the Congress of Pan- 
ama; which was expected to meet at Tacubaya, in 
Mexico ; and to be composed of plenipotentiaries from 
the various states of North and South America. 

The disturbances in South America, about that time, 
prevented the assembling of the Congress, and Mr. 
Sergeant returned to the United States in July, 1827. 

The policy of Mr. Adams in sending a Minister to 



26 

that Congress, was an enlarged one, whatever doubts 
might have been entertained of the practicability of 
carrying it out. His hope was to establish by formal 
negotiations, and the assent of all the states on this 
continent ; " an American system of maritime and inter- 
national law,'''' by which the abuses that had grown 
up in the European systems, might be disavowed, and 
their practice checked, so far at least as regarded 
this Continent and the American seas. 

Mr. Adams — himself a learned civilian, a tried and 
experienced statesman, and long trained in the best 
school, and formed upon the best models — could have 
paid no greater compliment to any man, than his selec- 
tion to represent the United States, upon an occasion 
so interesting, and upon questions so vast, compre- 
hensive and important. 

That compliment was deservedly paid to John 
Sergeant. 

In 1832, Mr. Sergeant was taken up as the whig 
candidate for the Vice-Presidency. 

In the autumn of 1836, an opportunity was offered to 
his fellow-citizens, of conferring another distinguished 
mark of their confidence, by electing Mr. Sergeant a 
member of the Convention, then about to be held for 
amending the Constitution of Pennsvlvania. That 
body assembled in May, 1837, and Mr. Sergeant was 



27 

chosen President, and discharged the duties of that 
office, till its final adjournment, in February, 1838. 

He entered freely into the debates on the important 
subjects, which occupied that body during the term 
of its session. 

Time will not permit a detailed reference, either to 
the subjects on which he spoke, or to the views which 
he expressed. 

In all, he maintained the same fidelity to the prin- 
ciples which he had avowed previous to, and at the 
time of his election, which always distinguished him, 
when acting in a representative capacity. 

His speech on the Judicial tenure, may be refer- 
red to, as containing a remarkably clear and forcible 
exposition of the doctrines and principles which he 
held and maintained on that question. 

In 1840, Mr. Sergeant was again elected to Con- 
gress, from which he retired in the year 1841. 

On General Harrison's election to the office of Pre- 
sident of the United States, he was tendered a place in 
the Cabinet, but refused the offer, and shortly after- 
wards declined the appointment by Vice-President 
Tyler to the mission to Great Britain. His last pub- 
lic official function was fulfilled in 1847, when he was 
selected on the part of the United States by Mr. Marcy, 
then Secretary of War, as an Arbitrator, to determine 
the controversy then existing between the United States 



28 

and Delaware, as to the title to the "Pea Patch 
Island," and which was definitely settled by his 
award. 

This contracted and imperfect sketch of his public 
services, by no means affords a view of all his labors 
for the public good. His activity in the cause of 
internal improvement^ was constant and unwavering. 

He was appointed one of the Board of Canal Com- 
missioners, under the Act of 1825, and was the Presi- 
dent of that Board till the period of his departure for 
Mexico, in 1826. 

In the cause of charity, he was never appealed to 
in vain. He was connected with many of our most 
worthy charitable institutions, and in some of them, 
took a more active part than might have been thought 
consistent with his various public and professional 

occupations. 

He acted as President of the " House of Refuge," 
from the date of its establishment; was also Presi- 
dent of the " Apprentice's Library Company," and for 
many years there was in this city, scarcely a meeting 
for any worthy public object, to which he was not 
invited, and none which, when invited, he refused if 
able to attend. During all this period, he was en- 
gaged laboriously, in a laborious profession, "^Ze/er- 
mined^^'' to use his own language, " to maintain his 
independence by his own exertions.'''' 



29 

A few extracts from his correspondence, at different 
periods, will exhibit more faithfully than could any 
description, the tenderness of his sensibilities, the 
kindness of his heart, how sincerely he was devoted 
to the promotion of the welfare of his country and of 
his fellow men, and how humble and true were his 
religious feelings. In May, 1817, he writes from 
Paris, referring to the domestic affliction of a friend, 
as follows : 

" I should not have known what the affliction was, 
which my friend had been called to suffer. I suppose 
there must be some previous letter, that has not yet 
come to hand. 

I have written a few lines to him. But what a 
task ! 

When. I think of the loss he has sustained, the 
tears come into my eyes and I am unable to write. 

Why did I leave home ? May He, who rules the 
Universe in justice and in mercy, give the sufferers 
consolation and support." 

He thus describes an interview with Mr. West, the 
artist, during the same visit to Europe. 

" On Sunday, Mr. West paid us a long visit, which 
was a most particular attention, as he is not expected 
to take the trouble of returning calls. 

His conversation was, as usual, full of interesting 
anecdotes. In the course of it, he related to us the 



30 

particulars of his interview with Bonaparte, a part of 
which I have somewhere seen in print. 

During the peace of Amiens, Mk. West made a 
visit to Paris, where, you may remember, the news- 
papers informed us, he was received with the distinc- 
tion due to so eminent a man. 

He was introduced to Bonaparte, then first Consul, 
in the gallery of the Louvre, a very appropriate place, 
for the introduction of a great artist, and accompanied 
Bonaparte in his walk through the gallery. Now, you 
shall have his own narrative, as nearly as I can give it. 

" The busts were all arranged in a long line. As we 
passed along, Bonaparte did not speak a word, till we 
came to that of Washington. He stopped in front of 
that bust, folded his arms, and fixed his eyes steadily 
upon it, as if in profound thought. After some time 
he turned to LeBrun, the third Consul, and said aloud, 
with a good deal of energy and feeling : — ' I had 
rather be that man, than any one that ever existed." 
I felt (continued Mr. West) the color flush in my face, 
and if I could have ventured to speak my thoughts, 
should have said to him — " You have now an oppor- 
tunity to imitate the example of Washington." 

In another epistle, after describing his visit to the 
field of Waterloo, he proceeds thus, to convey an 
idea of the feelings which the scene had excited in his 
mind. 



31 

" At this spot, a warm imagination might perhaps 
for a moment, conjure up the scene of battle, but for 
myself, I must confess that when I surveyed the whole 
space, which had been occupied for the work of de- 
struction, when I saw it all calm and tranquil, and the 
beneficent works of Providence going on as if they 
had never been interrupted, one single reflection occu- 
pied my mind. I thought only of the feebleness of 
man's mightiest efforts, compared with the majestic 
course of nature. 

" He can destroy his own works effectually, as the 
farm of Huguemont testifies, but he can scarcely make 
the print of his footstep upon the earth. 

" I have often felt my own insignificance. I have 
felt it particularly at sea, when the unlimited expanse 
of sky and water, made the ship appear like an atom, 
but I never felt it so strongly as at Waterloo." 

In 1827, he writes from Mexico. 

" My life here is a good deal solitary. It would be 
intolerable, but for books, and for the hope I cherish, 
that I may be the instrument of some good to our 
beloved country, and to mankind." 

Again — " You may suppose I am badly off — and so 
I am in truth. I have no resource but in reading and 
study. Last evening (Sunday) I read the whole of 
the Gospel by Mathew, and I hope one fruit of my 
residence here will be, a better acquaintance with that 



32 

good Book. I must also say, the Book of Common 
Prayer is a consolation to me, especially on Sundays, 
which you must know are perverted here to strange 
uses. 

" It is a miserable thing, to be without a place of 
worship on Sunday; I try to mark and keep the day 
by reading my Prayer Book and Bible." 

And again — " What I long for is a Sunday at home. 
The quiet, order, and cheerful stillness of that day, 
the cleanly and becoming appearance of the people, 
the excellent character and conduct of our clergy, and 
the general repose, prepare one for the beautiful intro- 
duction of the church service. ' The Lord is in his 
holy temple, let all the earth keep silence before him.' 
But here it is a day of tumultuous dissipation, more 
noisy than any other in the week, unless it happen to 
be a great feast, and that is exactly like a Sunday." 

These extracts show the earnest zeal and sincerity 
with which he referred all that was good in morals 
here, to the true source of authority, — the divine 
PRECEPTS, — and to the true motive of their practice — 
loyalty to the author of those precepts, and the expec- 
tation of happiness hereafter. The theory of his 
whole life, may be found in an extract, from an ad- 
dress delivered by himself, many years since. 

" If we would know the full worth of integrity, we 
must lay aside all other judgments, and each for him- 



33 

self conscientiously consult his own, first endeavoring 
earnestly to enlighten it. What will it tell hiin ? 
Man is a portion of eternity. Not a fragment broken 
off and thrown upon this earth, here to begin and end, 
but an abiding portion of eternity. The links which 
bind him to it, he cannot break. 

" They are his virtues or his vices. These, with 
right exertions, he can control. He cannot, by any 
efforts of his own, excel in intellectual power. He 
cannot acquire riches, he cannot achieve greatness, 
therefor he is not accountable for the w^ant of them. 
But he can be good or bad, and upon this capacity it 
is, that his accountability rests, and according to it, is 
to be his destiny." 

To this beautiful passage it is to be added, that he 
did excel in intellectual power ; that he did achieve a 
distinguished position; that he did for a long series of 
years, and to the time of his death, enjoy the confi- 
dence and esteem of his fellow citizens, and the ffene- 
ral public. 

Through hfe he fulfilled all public functions faith- 
fully and sought none unworthily. He maintained 
his personal independence by an honorable attention to 
his own affairs, and thus gave the strongest pledge of 
fidelity in the management of others entrusted to him. 
He regulated his expenditure^ by his means, and never 



34 

stooped to receive dishonest gain or eleemosynary 
assistance. By bis inflexible integrity, not less than 
by his eminent ability, he added lustre to Pennsylva- 
nia, and richly earned the honors which are now paid 
to his memory. 



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